The
Ohio Valley Conference (
OVC) is a
college athletic conference which operates in the
midwesternThe Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
and southeastern
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It participates in Division I of the
NCAAThe National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
; the conference's
footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
programs compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS; formerly known as Division I-AA), the lower of two levels of Division I football competition. The OVC has 11 members, 9 of which compete in football in the conference.
History
The Ohio Valley Conference can trace its roots to 1941 when
Murray StateMurray State University features 15 varsity sports teams. Both men's and women's teams are called the Racers, with the exception of the baseball team which is known as the Thoroughbreds. They participate in the NCAA's Division I, in the Ohio Valley Conference. Football competes the Football...
athletic director Roy Stewart,
Eastern KentuckyEKU fields teams in 15 varsity sports . The school is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference in Division I of the NCAA , having been a part of the conference since its inception in 1948...
athletic director Charles "Turkey" Hughes, and
Western KentuckyThe Western Kentucky Hilltoppers is the name for all of the men's intercollegiate athletic teams that play for Western Kentucky University. Women's teams are known as Lady Toppers...
public relations director Kelly Thompson first formulated the idea of establishing a regional athletics conference. The plan was put on hold due to World War II, but it was resurrected after the conclusion of the war. In 1948, the three schools joined with
LouisvilleThe Louisville Cardinals are the athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. A member of the Big East Conference since 2005, they are known nationally as traditional powers in men's basketball, women's volleyball, and dance team...
, Morehead State, and
EvansvilleThe Evansville Purple Aces represent the University of Evansville in NCAA Division I sports.-Purple Aces and Ace Purple:The University of Evansville's nickname, the Aces, was acquired after an opposing coach cracked a joke after losing to the Evansville College Pioneers in the 1920s...
to form the Ohio Valley Conference.
Historically, OVC was a pioneer in racial desegregation. During times of racial segregation, league member Morehead State became one of the first non-traditionally black mid-southern institutions to accept a black student. In 1958, Marshall Banks received athletically-related aid at Morehead, which signed a second black athlete, Howard Murphy, a year later. In 1961, Murphy earned all-conference recognition as a halfback in football. With racial barriers broken, the rest of the institutions in the league began to provide educational and athletic opportunities to African-Americans.
Today, the OVC is unique among NCAA Division I conferences in that it includes one
historically black universityHistorically black colleges and universities are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before 1964 with the intention of serving the black community....
,
Tennessee State UniversityTennessee State University is a land-grant university located in Nashville, Tennessee. TSU is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennessee.-History:...
, in a conference that otherwise consists of non-traditionally black institutions. All other HBCUs in NCAA Division I are members of either the
MEACThe Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference is a collegiate athletic conference of historically black colleges and universities in the Southeastern United States...
or
SWACThe Southwestern Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black universities in the Southern United States...
, conferences made up entirely of HBCUs. (
Savannah State UniversitySavannah State University is a four-year, state-supported, historically black university located in Savannah, Georgia. Savannah State holds the distinction as the oldest public historically black university in Georgia...
is a probationary member of the MEAC; all others are full members of one of the two HBCU conferences.)
In the wake of
Title IXTitle IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a United States law, enacted on June 23, 1972, that amended Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 2002 it was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, in honor of its principal author Congresswoman Mink, but is most...
, the OVC established women's championships in the sports of basketball, tennis and track in 1977, with cross country and volleyball added over the next four years. Those sports were initially governed by the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, but were continued when the NCAA became the governing body in 1982.
Member schools
Future members
Former members
Sports offered
The Ohio Valley Conference currently offers 17 sports, 8 for men and 9 for women.
- Men's sports
- Baseball
College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. Compared to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a less significant contribution to cultivating professional players, as the minor leagues primarily...
- Basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
- Cross Country
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
- Football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
- Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
- Indoor Track
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
- Outdoor Track
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
- Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
- Women's sports
- Basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
- Cross Country
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
- Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
- Indoor Track
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
- Outdoor Track
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
- Soccer
College soccer is a term used to describe association football played by teams who are operated by colleges and universities as opposed to a professional league operated for exclusively financial purposes...
- Softball
College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is normally played by men.As with other intercollegiate...
- Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
- Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
Football conference champions
This is a partial list of the last 10 champions. For the complete history, see List of Ohio Valley Conference football champions.
| Year |
Regular Season Champion |
Record |
FCS Championship Result |
| 2000 |
Western Kentucky |
7-0 |
Quarterfinals |
| 2001 |
Eastern Illinois |
6-1 |
First Round |
| 2002 |
Eastern Illinois
Murray State |
5–1 |
First Round |
| 2003 |
Jacksonville State |
7-1 |
First Round |
| 2004 |
Jacksonville State |
7–1 |
First Round |
| 2005 |
Eastern Illinois |
8–0 |
First Round |
| 2006 |
UT Martin
Eastern Illinois |
6-1
7-1 |
First Round |
| 2007 |
Eastern Kentucky |
8-0 |
First Round |
| 2008 |
Eastern Kentucky |
7-1 |
First Round |
| 2009 |
Eastern Illinois $ |
6-2 |
First Round |
| 2010 |
Southeast Missouri State |
7-1 |
First Round |
$ - Jacksonville State (6-1) had the best record in the conference, but was ineligible for the championship due to
Academic Progress RateThe Academic Progress Rate, sometimes also known as Academic Performance Rating and generally abbreviated as APR, is a metric established by the NCAA to indicate the success of collegiate athletic teams in moving student athletes towards graduation . It was instituted in February of 2005...
sanctions.
Men's basketball
This is a partial list of the last 10 champions. For the complete history, see List of Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball champions.
| Year |
Regular Season Champion |
Record |
Tournament Champion |
| 2001–02 |
Tennessee Tech |
15–1 |
Murray State |
| 2002–03 |
Austin Peay
Morehead State |
13-3 |
Austin Peay |
| 2003–04 |
Austin Peay |
16–0 |
Murray State |
| 2004–05 |
Tennessee Tech |
12–4 |
Eastern Kentucky |
| 2005–06 |
Murray State |
17-3 |
Murray State |
| 2006–07 |
Austin Peay |
16–4 |
Eastern Kentucky |
| 2007–08 |
Austin Peay |
16–4 |
Austin Peay Tournament The 2008 Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament took place from March 4–8, 2008. The first round was hosted by the better seed in each game. The semifinals and finals will take place at Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee...
|
| 2008–09 |
UT Martin |
14-4 |
Morehead State Tournament The 2009 Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament took place on March 3, 6, and 7, 2009. The first round was hosted by the better seed in each game, and the semifinals and finals took place at Sommet Center in Nashville, Tennessee...
|
| 2009–10 |
Murray State |
17-1 |
Murray State Tournament -External links:***...
|
| 2010–11 |
Murray State |
14-4 |
Morehead State Tournament -Outcome:Morehead St. defeated Tennessee Tech, 80–73 in the final of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament in Nashville. They will move on to their second NCAA tournament in the past three years and fourth overall...
|
Conference facilities
| School |
Football stadium |
Basketball arena |
Baseball stadium |
| Name |
Capacity |
Name |
Capacity |
Name |
Capacity |
| Austin Peay |
Governors Stadium Governors Stadium is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in Clarksville, Tennessee. It opened in 1946 and is home to the Austin Peay State University Governors football team.- History :...
|
10,000 |
Dunn Center Dunn Center is a 9,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Clarksville, Tennessee. It was built in 1975. It is home to the Austin Peay State University Governors basketball team. It hosted the Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament in 1977...
|
9,000 |
Raymond C. Hand Park |
1,000 |
| Eastern Illinois |
O'Brien Stadium O'Brien Stadium is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in Charleston, Illinois. It is home to the Eastern Illinois University Panthers football and track and field teams. The stadium also plays host to the IHSA State Finals in track and field every year...
|
10,000 |
Lantz Arena Lantz Arena is a 5,300-seat multi-purpose arena in Charleston, Illinois. It is home to the Eastern Illinois University Panthers basketball team....
|
5,300 |
Coaches Stadium |
500 |
| Eastern Kentucky |
Roy Kidd StadiumRoy Kidd Stadium is Eastern Kentucky University's football stadium in Richmond, Kentucky. The stadium is home to the EKU Colonels football team, located on campus. Currently, Roy Kidd Stadium consists of upper and lower level seating areas with a predominant majority of the seats being metal...
|
20,000 |
Alumni ColiseumAlumni Coliseum is a multi-use sports arena located on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky, USA. Built in 1963, the Paul S...
|
6,300 |
Turkey Hughes Field Turkey Hughes Field, is a baseball stadium in Richmond, Kentucky. It is the home field of the Eastern Kentucky University Colonels college baseball team. The stadium was opened in the 1960's and was named in honor of former EKU baseball coach Turkey Hughes....
|
N/A |
| Jacksonville State |
JSU Stadium |
24,000 |
Pete Mathews Coliseum Pete Mathews Coliseum is a 5,300-seat multi-purpose arena in Jacksonville, Alabama. It is home to the Jacksonville State University Gamecocks men's and women's basketball teams as well as the women's volleyball team. It also hosts the annual Calhoun County High School Basketball Tournament held...
|
5,800 |
Rudy Abbott Field Rudy Abbott Field is a baseball field located in Jacksonville, Alabama. It has been home to the Jacksonville State University Gamecocks baseball team since 1995. The field has a capacity of 1,500 and is named for former baseball coach Rudy Abbott....
|
1,000 |
| Morehead State |
Jayne StadiumJayne Stadium is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in Morehead, Kentucky, United States. It opened in 1964 and is home to the Morehead State University Eagles football team.-References:...
|
10,000 |
Ellis Johnson ArenaEllis T. Johnson Arena is a 6,500-seat multi-purpose arena in Morehead, Kentucky, in the United States. It was built in 1981. It is home to the Morehead State University Eagles basketball team. It hosted the Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament in 1984. It replaced Wetherby Gymnasium....
|
6,500 |
John "Sonny" Allen Field |
1,200 |
| Murray State |
Roy Stewart StadiumRoy Stewart Stadium is a 16,800-seat multi-purpose stadium in Murray, Kentucky. It opened in 1973 and is home to the Murray State University Racers football, rifle and women's track and field teams...
|
16,800 |
CFSB Center |
8,602 |
Johnny Reagan Field |
N/A |
| Southeast Missouri State |
Houck Stadium Houck Stadium is a 11,015-seat multi-purpose stadium in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. It opened in 1930 and was named after famous Missouri resident Louis Houck. Today it is home to the Southeast Missouri State University Redhawks football team and Women's Soccer team.The stadium used to be open on...
|
11,015 |
Show Me Center The Show Me Center is a multi-purpose arena, located on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.Since its opening in 1987, this joint project between the City of Cape Girardeau and the university, annually hosts, approximately, 250 meeting room and 160 arena...
|
6,972 |
Capaha Park |
N/A |
| SIU-Edwardsville |
Non-Football School |
N/A |
Vadalabene Center The Sam M. Vadalabene Center also known as the VC, is multi-purpose arena on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville with a capacity of 4,200. It is home to the Cougar basketball, volleyball, and wrestling team. The facility opened in 1984...
|
4,000 |
SimmonsCooper Complex |
N/A |
| UT Martin |
Graham Stadium Hardy M. Graham Stadium is a 8,500-seat multi-purpose stadium in Martin, Tennessee. It is home to the University of Tennessee at Martin Skyhawks football team. The facility opened in 1964.- Namesake of the stadium :...
|
8,000 |
Skyhawk Arena Skyhawk Arena is a 7,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Martin, Tennessee. It is home to the University of Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks basketball team....
|
7,000 |
Skyhawk Baseball Field |
1,000 |
| Tennessee State |
LP Field LP Field is a football stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, owned by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County....
|
68,000 |
Gentry Complex Gentry Complex is a 10,500-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee. The arena opened in 1980. It is home to the TSU Tigers basketball team. The Gentry Complex is situated on the main campus of Tennessee State University, a land-grant institution...
|
10,500 |
Non-Baseball School |
N/A |
| Tennessee Tech |
Tucker Stadium Tucker Stadium, named for former head coach, Wilburn Tucker , is a 16,500-seat multi-purpose stadium in Cookeville, Tennessee. It is home to the Tennessee Technological University Golden Eagles football team.-External Links:*...
|
16,500 |
Eblen Center Hooper Eblen Center is a 10,152-seat multi-purpose arena in Cookeville, Tennessee. It is home to the Tennessee Technological University Golden Eagles basketball team....
|
10,152 |
Bush StadiumOwen J. "Donie" Bush Stadium is the name of a stadium formerly used by minor league baseball team Indianapolis Indians in Indianapolis, Indiana. Its street address is 1501 West 16th Street...
|
1,500 |